HONOLULU – March 20, 2012 - Hawaiian Airlines has added a sixth new Airbus A330-200 to its fleet, the first of four new A330s to join the fleet in the first half of this year.
The 294-seat A330 began service operating one of Hawaiian’s daily flights between Los Angeles and Honolulu on March 13, just three days after flying nonstop for more than 8,200 miles and 17 hours from the Airbus factory in Toulouse, France, to Honolulu.
Mark Dunkerley, Hawaiian’s president and CEO, commented, “Our strategic growth plan is on schedule and we’re putting these new aircraft to work where they are needed most to fulfill travel demand for Hawaii and expand our service. Next month we will transition to A330 aircraft for our Osaka and Sydney routes, and just six weeks after that, we will launch our new nonstop service to JFK Airport in New York with our A330 aircraft.”
Hawaiian’s newest A330 is named Manaiakalani, or Maui’s hook, the Hawaiian name for the constellation of Scorpio. All of Hawaiian’s new A330s are named for a constellation or star used for celestial navigation by the ancient Polynesians in making their voyages across the Pacific to Hawaii.
Hawaiian’s other three A330s joining the fleet this year will be delivered one per month in April, May, and June. The new A330s will add capacity to Hawaiian’s daily nonstop service between Osaka-Honolulu starting March 31 and Sydney-Honolulu starting April 24 – with both making the transition earlier than previously announced – and will be used to operate New York-Honolulu service commencing June 5.
Along with the nine A330 aircraft that will be in Hawaiian’s fleet by the end of June, the company is taking delivery of 13 additional A330s between 2013 and 2015.
All of Hawaiian’s wide-body, twin-aisle A330s seat 294 passengers – 30 more than its Boeing 767-300ER aircraft – adding nearly 11,000 more air seats annually to Hawaii’s visitor industry with each new aircraft.
The new A330s are also more fuel-efficient and have a longer operating range than the B767s, giving Hawaiian the option to open new nonstop routes between Hawaii and points throughout North America and eastern Asia.
About Hawaiian Airlines
Hawaiian has led all U.S. carriers in on-time performance for each of the past eight years (2004-2011) as reported by the U.S. Department of Transportation. In addition, consumer surveys by Condé Nast Traveler, Travel + Leisure, and Zagat have all ranked Hawaiian the top domestic airline offering flights to Hawaii. Hawaiian was also the nation’s highest-ranked carrier for service quality and performance in the prestigious Airline Quality Rating (AQR) study for 2008 and 2009.
Now in its 83rd year of continuous service in Hawaii, Hawaiian is the largest provider of passenger air service to Hawaii from the state’s primary visitor markets on the U.S. mainland. Hawaiian offers nonstop service to Hawaii from more U.S. gateway cities (10) than any other airline, as well as service to Japan, South Korea, the Philippines, Australia, American Samoa, and Tahiti. Daily service to New York City will begin in June 2012. Hawaiian also provides approximately 170 daily jet flights between the Hawaiian Islands.
Hawaiian Airlines, Inc. is a subsidiary of Hawaiian Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: HA). Additional information is available at HawaiianAirlines.com. Follow updates on Twitter about Hawaiian (@HawaiianAir) and its special fare offers (@HawaiianFares), and become a fan on its Facebook page (Hawaiian Airlines).
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